Just Carrying it For a Friend
by RynUhara
Summary: Many gifts come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, it just so happens that her gift to her best friend is a baby, and she's using her body to give it to her. Who would thought that the fates would choose now of all the years that she'd been single to send a decent guy her way? Definitely not Sakura Haruno.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 1

"Please enlighten me one more time on why I had to come with you to your husband's graduation ceremony?" Sakura Haruno groaned for the fifteenth time since she and her best friend Ino Yamanaka had come to the large meeting hall that was filled with everyone in elegant dresses and sharp suits.

"Sakura, you know that Sai doesn't have any family. He took _my surname_ for crying outloud! Me and the baby are the only blood that he has, so of course you're going to be here as well."

"Ino, you don't even know if I'm pregnant yet." The pinkette gave her an annoyed look.

"But you said so yourself that you have been feeling sick and sluggish lately! That's close enough for me!"

"Ino, I am a doctor." Sakura rolled her eyes. "You remember that, right?"

"Of course I do!" She beamed in reply. "Why else did you think I chose you as my surrogate?"

Sakura put her hands on her hips and glared at the girl next to her. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we've been best friends since we were in diapers?"

Ino giggled and wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulder. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Sakura shook her head and began to join in with Ino's laughter. Ever since she had gotten the procedure to implant the embryos inside her, Ino had been clinging to Sakura's side for practically 24/7. Her and her husband had been trying for a baby for a little over two years with no luck, when the doctor finally suggested that they try a surrogate. Sakura volunteered, knowing how badly Ino wanted a baby.

It was the best gift that Ino could ever ask for, especially because it was coming from Sakura. It only made sense for her to give up nine months of her life to let Ino obtain a child of her own. It was a small sacrifice on her part.

After all, Sakura had been single for years, and she wasn't actively looking to settle down just yet. She didn't have to worry over a relationship keeping her from doing this for her best friend.

"Attention, the ceremony will be starting shortly. Please be seated soon." A woman in a dark maroon dress with black hair and kind eyes got everyone's attention from her place on the platform that the uniformed graduates and some of the other important people from the department would be occupying very soon.

"Ugh. I hope I can look that good when I'm her age." Ino said as she led Sakura to their seats.

"Who was that?"

"She's the Chief's wife, and she's also one of the DA's assistants. Her name is Mikoto Uchiha." Ino's eyes glittered as she spoke about the woman. "She's so nice, too! All of the wives in the PD get together and have wine and pampering time once a month, which she pays for. She gives us all advice on how to deal with children and shift changes, and most importantly, how to design our homes around curtains that block out sunlight."

Sakura gave Ino a small smile, pretending like she understood the great importance of the things she listed. She understood the shift work frustrations and the annoyance of sunlight when working nights, but the children thing... She just wasn't sure if that was going to be for her in the future.

"It's starting." Ino squealed as the stage lights brightened and uniformed men came out in an organized fashion to their seats. Everyone was roaring with applause, whistles, and shouts for their loved ones.

"Good evening." A man had made his way to the podium and adressed the massive audience. "It is an honor and privilege to be able to stand before you for this occasion."

"That's the Chief." Ino whispered. "His name is Fugaku Uchiha. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all chiefs before him. Now, his oldest son is his second in command, waiting to follow in his father's footsteps."

Sakura looked at the older man in amazement. The Uchiha family seemed like they were very accomplished, and from the two members that she had seen on the platform, very good looking. If the parents were enough to turn a few heads in their early 50s, it made Sakura wonder what their children looked like.

"Now, I am going to announce the names of the graduates you see standing before you." The Chief finished with his introduction, and began to list off the names of the graduates. When he finally reached Sai's name, which was the last one announced, Ino cheered as loud as possible for her husband. Sakura jumped at the sound of her voice, having zoned out, trying to concentrate on anything but the boring ceremony and her aching feet.

"Fuck." Sakura hissed at Ino as she clutched her chest. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you."

"Relax, Sakura." Ino smiled. "You really need to get more into this."

Sakura sighed. _Maybe you need to be a little less into this._ Wasn't this supposed to be a classy event? People were cheering like it was a major league sport.

"I present to you this year's Konoha Police Academy graduating officers. These men will definitely do our department proud."

"Finally." Sakura said when the crowd began to scatter to different areas of the room. There was still the big fancy dinner left to be served, and Sakura was ready to devour everything in sight. She slipped away from Ino, who was too busy waving for her husband to notice where she was, and made her way to the appetizer section.

Sakura eagerly scanned her eyes over the many extravagant looking foods before her. She reached out to grab the last remaining piece of tomato brochette, but wasn't fast enough. She glared to the hand and up the arm to the face of the person that had stolen her desired target.

She started to open her mouth to scold them for taking her food when she noticed that he was a uniformed officer. He was very good looking, which is probably why Sakura couldn't help but stare- err, analyze the specimen before her. He had black, spiky hair, and onyx eyes that sucked her attention in even further. A nice specimen, indeed.

"Is there a problem?" He looked over at her, slightly annoyed because she was staring at him with her mouth open like he was some sort of alien.

"S-sorry." Sakura felt her cheeks slightly redden. "I was just going to eat that, but you got to it first." She glanced at the piece of toast in his hand, then quickly looked away.

He looked down at the brochette, and hesitated for a moment before handing it to her.

"What are you-?"

"Don't worry about it. They'll bring more out soon. I've already had six, anyway."

Sakura looked over at the empty tray that the bread had been on before. Her eyes widened when she noticed that there were only enough room for seven of them.

"Are you going to take it, or do germs bother you?"

The pinkette scoffed and took the food from the officer. "As if. I happen to be a doctor at Konoha General." To enforce her point, she took a bite right where he had bitten into it before they began their conversation.

He chuckled as he watched her with amusement. "Is that so? What department?"

"Emergency room." She answered with her mouth full, which caused her to mentally kick herself. This was most likely not an attractive sight for the man to see.

"Excuse me, would you like something to drink?" A man that was expertly carrying a tray of wine glasses interrupted the two.

"Merlot." The man casually answered.

Sakura looked at the list of wines that were on the tray. She opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a loud and obnoxious "You're getting water, right?"

Sakura groaned and stuffed the rest of the bruschetta in her mouth and nodded in defeat.

"Good girl." Ino smiled sweetly to her. "Look, I found Sai!"

The man that Sakura was with handed her a glass of water, while he casually drank his wine.

"I wasn't aware that he was even lost to begin with." Sakura glared down at her glass, really craving a good blush wine, which Ino ordered for herself.

"I didn't know that you knew Sasuke." Sai spoke as the man nodded in hello at him.

"I don't. We were just talking is all."

Ino put a hand on her hip and gave Sakura an annoyed look. "You were about to drink."

Sakura rolled her eyes, getting ready for yet another rant of "You're not just consuming things for you anymore" for the millionth time.

Sai put his hand on Ino's shoulder."Why don't I introduce you to some more of my classmates?"

He quickly led Ino away, to which Sakura mouthed a quiet "thank you".

"So are you an alcoholic or something?" Sasuke had remained standing next to Sakura, amused by the anger that his classmate's wife was showing to the woman.

"No, no." Sakura shook her head and sipped on her water. "It's nothing like that."

"You know, the first stage of recovery is acceptance." He smirked.

"Very funny." Sakura replied, and began to take interest in the food tables again.

"Would you like to try some deviled eggs?" An overly eager waiter stuck out a tray filled with freshly made eggs. Sakura's stomach turned when she looked down at the smashed yolk and whatever it was mixed with it.

She quickly covered her mouth and shook her head, trying to remain as lady-like as possible with out making it evident that she was about to bring back the brochette Sasuke gave up to her moments before.

"Hey, lady. You feelin' okay?" The waiter gave her a curious look as he placed the tray on the long table with the other dishes.

"She's probably sickened by the amount of cologne that you decided to put on in stead of showering." Sasuke smirked.

"EH?! What did you say, teme?!"

"Man, stupid and deaf." He clicked his tongue. "What a lame combination."

"Why you little-"

The waiter was about to take a swing at Sasuke, but stopped himself quickly when he saw the Chief walking over.

"Are you two quite done?" He looked annoyed with the two young men.

"Oi, Ojiisan!" The waiter whined. "Sasuke started it."

The Chief pinched the bridge of his nose, then turned to Sasuke. "You really need to stop instigating fights. You're supposed to bring peace, not disrupt it by pushing buttons like you tend to do."

Sasuke sighed. "It's not my fault the dobe is loud and annoying like a yappy little dog."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

"That's enough." The Chief glared between the two young men. "Sasuke, your mother and brother are waiting for us at our table. Dinner will be served soon."

"Yeah, better hope that I don't spit in yours." The waiter glared at Sasuke.

The Chief and Sasuke both gave identical glares at his words, causing the blonde man to fidget and sweat.

"I-I mean, congratulations."

The Chief began to walk away, when Sasuke remembered the woman that he had taken interest in. She seemed to have disappeared, which slightly disappointed him.

Oh well, it's not like he was interested enough to be concerned. She was just something to keep him entertained until someone from his family retrieved him to eat.

Sakura groaned. She had barely made it into the bathroom before losing the contents of her stomach. It was a good thing that the waiter was so distracting. She didn't want to have to explain the whole "I think it's morning sickness, but I'm not really sure" thing that she had going on in her head.

But really... She was sure.

She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror of the bathroom as she ran some water in the sink to wash her mouth out.

Her mind wondered to what it was going to be like for the next nine months. Sure, she knew what it was going to be like from a textbook standard, but this was going to be something completely unique.

Genetically, the child wasn't hers, but she knew it was going to effect her life greatly.


	2. Chapter 2

"Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 2

Sakura sat outside of the hospital, getting some air after working a on a few patients that were in a car accident. Everyone was in stable condition, and now all they were waiting on were the blood test results and for the police to show up for her statement. Sakura knew that she could trust her nurses to watch over the patients while she did her own thing.

They had learned to not bother her with things, unless they really needed her attention. She was usually the only doctor in the ER during the night, so she had a lot to do. It was a good thing she had a capable staff to assist her.

Especially with her "delicate" condition, as her boss always put it. She knew how stubborn and capable Sakura was, but she always made sure to tease her about her lack of energy and other things that came along with being pregnant. This always caused the others in her department to join in with the jokes. It was their way of showing that they were behind her through the process. Kind of like how family is.

Sakura took a drink of her hot tea and let herself relax. She had her feet propped up on the concrete ashtray that was next to the bench she was on to help relieve her swollen ankles. She was glad that she worked the night shift, because it was less likely that someone would walk by and wonder why a hospital staff member was laying across a bench with her feet propped up like she owned the place. Didn't she have any real work to do?

The young doctor snorted at the thought of nothing to do. She could only dream of a slow night in the Konoha General Emergency Room.

"Excuse me, Dr. Haruno." A hesitant voice caused Sakura to open one of her eyes and look up at the person standing in front of her. It was one of the new orderlies.

"Yes, what is it?"

"There are officers wanting to get your statement on the condition of the patients from earlier. I was told to come and get you."

Sakura sighed and forced herself up in a seating position. She quickly finished off her tea and tossed the empty cup in the trash.

As they walked back into the hospital, the young orderly kept glancing down at Sakura's loose scrubs, as if she were trying to figure out if there really was something under her shirt.

"Tell me, what is your name again?"

"Mitsuki Kazura."

Sakura stopped before they got to the doors and turned to her and smiled. "I know that there must be all sorts of things that people have told you about me, and I'm hoping that they're all good things."

She hesitantly nodded, wondering where the doctor was going with her words.

"I think my favorite rumor that I've heard recently is that I'm pregnant from a one night stand I had when I went to Italy a few months ago, and that the father is some sort of high standing surgeon in the Italian medical community. I'm now apparently keeping it a secret because he's a married man with four other kids." Sakura chuckled at the thought of how elaborate some stories were. She looked back down at the nervous girl next to her and gave her a gentle smile. "I am pregnant, but the baby isn't mine. I'm having it for my friends."

"O-oh." Mitsuki blushed and nodded, now understanding a little more about her boss.

"If you ever have something that you want to know for sure, always ask the direct source. Okay?" She patted the girl on her head and entered the hospital.

Sakura saw two uniformed officers waiting for her at the reception desk when she entered her department.

"How can I help you, officers?" She greeted the two men.

"Ah. You must be Dr. Haruno." One of the two held out his hand for her to shake. "I am Officer Hatake, and this is my partner, Officer Uchiha."

Sakura smiled and shook the white-haired man's hand, then looked up to the other officer standing in front of her.

"Oh, it's you." She stated, surprised to see him there of all people. "You're the one from the graduation ceremony."

"We have some questions about some of the patients that came in tonight." Sasuke said, all business and ignoring the recognition she showed. He didn't even seem like the man that teased her a couple of months ago at all.

"Right..." She turned and motioned for one of the receptionists to bring her the files she had set aside to read to the officers. "My office is this way. Please, follow me."

The doctor led them to the private room, and offered them a seat. She had gone through this many times with other officers, but it felt like the more time she spent going over the routine information with Officers Hatake and Uchiha, she felt herself getting annoyed. She tried to keep her gaze on both of the officers as they asked their questions, but she kept finding her focus drifting to the raven-haired officer.

 _He really seems like he has a stick up his ass or something._ She thought as he kept questioning her on her patients. It was like he didn't approve of the answers she was giving them. Almost as if she was uneducated and had no clue how to read lab reports. He kept motioning for her to give him the files so that he could look for himself, which she begrudgingly did.

Officer Hatake tugged at his collar, feeling uncomfortable with the air changing in the room. He definitely noticed how Dr. Haruno looked like she was ready to snap. The Uchiha, on the other hand, kept asking her questions as if he were interrogating her.

"And you're positive that there was no alcohol or drugs in Mr. Onigawa's system."

Sakura clenched her hands into fists and forced her face to smile in a professional manner. Her voice, however, betrayed her. " _Absolutely._ "

"I think we've got everything we need." Officer Hatake quickly stood from his seat, urging his partner to do the same. Sasuke casually looked over the files again, then nodded his head in agreement. He put them back together and handed them to Sakura.

"Thank you for your time."

Sakura snatched the files from his hands. "Of course."

"Have a good night, Doctor." Officer Hatake said, and left the room.

Sasuke walked out after him, leaving Sakura fuming in her office.

"That ass." She grumbled under her breath and sat down. She looked down at the files and noticed a small card sticking out that wasn't there before.

 _Business is business. Coffee after hours?_ _-S_

It was hastily written, almost like he had casually done it like he had been taking notes as they spoke. She turned the card over, which had his information on it. He circled his cellphone number and next to it he scribbled " _reply?_ ".

Sakura looked up at the door that the two officers had just left, shocked that he did that with out her noticing. He wasn't being an ass to her like she thought. He was just being thorough.

She quickly took out her phone and put in his number. Sakura was about to compose a new message, but she stopped herself.

 _Is this really right for me to do?_ She absently rested a hand on her abdomen. She was only sixteen weeks, so her scrubs had hid the slight bump from people very well.

Sakura really wished that she didn't work the night shift, because she could really use the advice of her best friend right then. There was one person that she did know that would be up at that time of night that she could get advice from... She sighed as she found the number and clicked it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sai... Are you busy?"

"No, it's kind of a quiet night where I'm on patrol. Is something wrong?"

"I was just..." She hesitated, then shook her head to make herself get her act together. "Would it be wrong for me to date someone right now?"

It was silent on the other side of the line.

"Sai?"

"Are you sure that I'm the one you should be asking?"

"Ino is sleeping, so you're the only one that I've got right now."

"Right..." He sighed. "I don't have a problem with it, and we all know how long that Ino has tried to get you with someone, so I am pretty sure that she'd be okay with it. It's your decision."

"That doesn't help me at all." Sakura groaned.

"I'm not good with girl talk."

"Well, thanks for trying." She mumbled. "I'm gonna go, now. Be safe tonight."

"Always."

They hung up, and she went back to her text message screen.

 _Well, kid. It's not like it's going to be a huge deal, right?_ She thought to the child growing within her. _It's just coffee._

She hit send, and sighed. "It's just coffee."

Sasuke was typing up the report that his partner was _supposed_ to be doing himself. He growled and glared over his shoulder at Kakashi when the computer froze yet again mid-sentence.

"Can you not do something about this damn thing?"

"Now, now, Sasuke. Think of this as a learning experience." Kakashi waved off the rookie's glare and returned to the book that he was reading.

The younger officer slammed his fingers on the keyboard in front of him, silently cursing his father for not wanting to update any of the tech in the PD. He believed that it was much too complicated to have to keep up with updating the computer system every month.

"I'm going outside while this stupid thing restarts." Sasuke growled. This was the third or fourth time he had to do a hard reset of the stupid thing, which meant that he was going to have to start all over on his report yet again.

Once he was outside, his phone buzzed a few times. Cell signal inside of the department was nonexistent, apparently.

There were a few drunken texts from the dobe, one from his mother to make sure that his night was going smoothly, and one from a number he didn't recognize. He smirked when he remembered how angry he had left the doctor when he left the ER. It had to have been her.

He opened the message, and chuckled to himself.

 _Business may be business, but it doesn't mean that you have to be an ass about it... I guess coffee sounds okay... I get off at 7._ _I don't have a car, so you might as well pick me up at the hospital._

Sasuke didn't know why this doctor amused him so much. He never found other women he encountered as interesting as he found her to be. There was just... _something_ about her that made him want to know more.

Sakura walked out of the hospital doors just as the sun was rising. She stretched her arms over her head and breathed in deeply. This is what freedom felt like after a long night in the Kanoha General Emergency Room. She loved her job, and she loved the people that she got to work with. It was rewarding, but very taxing.

She looked around for the young officer who had promised to come and pick her up after their shifts ended.

"Hey, I'm over here." A voice called out to her. She turned to where it came from, and did all that she could to keep her mouth from falling open at the sight of what she saw him driving.

"Are you going to keep staring, or are you going to get in?" He chuckled.

"I'm sorry, my mother taught me not to get into cars with strange men." Sakura folded her arms across her chest, giving him a snide come back.

"That's funny, because my mom told me not to pick up strange women, but here I am."

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled. She liked that they played off each other's words. Not even Ino could keep up with her a lot of the time, which Sakura just blamed on her being blonde.

"How was your night?" She asked once she was buckled in the passengers seat.

"The calls weren't bad. It was the reports that I was ready to pull my hair out from." He replied as he backed up the car. "You?"

"It was fairly quiet, aside from that accident." Sakura answered. "Work is something that I really would rather not talk about, though. I've had enough medical talk for the last twelve hours."

"Fair enough." Sasuke nodded. "So, do you have any ideas on where you'd like to go?"

"Somewhere that has food."

"Oh good, so Best Buy is out of the question." He chuckled, earning a glare from Sakura. "I'm kidding. There's a place that I know of. I just hope that you don't mind idiots."

Sakura raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Eh?"

"Just trust me. It's not as bad as it sounds like it's going to be."

They drove for a while, and ended up on the edge of Kanoha. There was nothing but trees for a while, but when Sasuke took them a little past the city limits Sakura saw a bright red sign with the words "Kushina's Kitchen" on it.

"I've never heard of this place before." Sakura said when she got out of the car.

"It's owned by family friends." Sasuke explained. "It's not anything fancy, but the cooking is just as good as my mom's."

He held the door open for Sakura, letting her go in first.

Sasuke was right, it definitely wasn't anything fancy. Just a few wooden tables, and a bar that blocked customers from going into the kitchen. It could have been because it was so early in the morning, but to Sakura, it felt like it hadn't opened for customers yet.

"Hey, anyone home?" Sasuke called when they reached the bar.

"Sasuke? You're here early." A feminine voice answered. "Give us a minute, the boys are still doing prep."

"Take your time, Mrs. Uzumaki."

"Are you sure that it's okay for us to be here? They aren't even open yet."

"It's fine. They always feed me when I get off my shift. I actually like coming here because it isn't that crowded until lunch time, when I am fast asleep."

Sakura still felt like she was intruding. It didn't matter if Sasuke knew them. They didn't know her, and because of that she felt like she was invading on their opening duties.

"Are you hungry or not? I could always take you home, you know."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but her stomach did it before her voice could. She glared down at her abdomen. _Thanks a lot, kid._ She thought angrily. It didn't matter how much she seemed to eat since she got pregnant, she never felt satisfied, and her stomach reminded her of that.

Sasuke chuckled, which caused Sakura's cheeks turn red from embarrassment.

"Sorry about that." The same voice from before caught moved their attention to a woman that had just entered the room from the back of the kitchen.

She had scarlet hair, tied up in a ponytail to keep it pulled back from her face. She wore a yellow dress with a stained apron over it, and surprisingly she walked around barefoot.

"Oh, you brought a friend with you this time." She beamed at the two. "I'm Kushina Uzumaki. Welcome to my restaurant."

"Hello." Sakura returned with a polite smile. "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Is there anything you two would like to drink?"

"My usual." Sasuke answered.

"Water for me, please."

"Black coffee and water, coming right out." She smiled, then turned around and began to yell into the kitchen. "HEY! BRING OUT SASUKE'S COFFEE AND A GLASS OF WATER FOR HIS LADY FRIEND!"

"WAIT! TEME BROUGHT A GIRL?!" A voice yelled back.

"GOOD FOR HIM!" Another yelled.

There was clanging coming from the back after that, then the sound of shattering glass. Sakura flinched, and looked to an unphased Sasuke and Kushina that were carrying on a conversation like nothing was wrong.

"HEY, WATCH IT! THAT'S HOT, YOU KNOW!"

"YOU SPILLED ICE ON THE FLOOR, I WAS TRYING TO KEEP FROM SLIPPING!"

"WOULD YOU TWO QUIT FOOLING AROUND AND BRING OUT THEIR DRINKS ALREADY?!" Kushina yelled to the two people in the back.

A couple of seconds later, two blonde men came walking out of the kitchen. The younger carried Sasuke's coffee, while the elder had Sakura's water. They had to have been father and son.

"Hey, it's the lady that ran away after she saw my eggs."

Sakura gave him a weak smile. "Yeah... Sorry about that."

"No offense taken. His cooking isn't really that great." The older man teased.

"NOT COOL, POPS!" The younger one yelled.

"It's true, though." Sasuke casually agreed as he took a drink from his mug.

"I hope you know that I spit in that before I brought it out."

Sasuke spat out the drink and began to choke, causing laughter to bubble out of the younger blonde.

"HA! YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

Kushina hit him in the back of the head as hard as she could.

"MA! What was that for?" He whined, holding the spot where a bump was surely forming.

"Quit fooling around. I'm sure Sasuke is tired after being up all night, so hurry and take their order." She glared.

"Fine, fine." He rolled his eyes.

"Like you're supposed to, Naruto."

The younger man gave an exasperated sigh, then turned to Sakura. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, son of the great Kushina, whose food you are about to have the privilege to eat. How can I take your order?"

This time it was Sasuke's turn to start laughing.

"SHUT UP, TEME!" Naruto jumped over the counter and kicked him in the chest, causing him to fall back from his chair. Sakura started to get up to make sure that Sasuke was okay, but she felt Kushina's hand stop her.

"Don't worry about it." Kushina shook her head. "This is normal for them. Has been for years, now. I'm going to go to the kitchen and start on Sasuke's food. Go ahead and tell my husband what you would like, okay."

Kushina left the room and retreated to the back, leaving Sakura with the scuffling men that were throwing punches at each other while they rolled on the floor, and the older blonde man who watched the two with amusement.

He turned and flashed Sakura a handsome smile.

"So, miss. What would you like?"

"Erm... What do you have?"

"Anything you want. My darling is a great cook."

"In that case..."

A few minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke finally stopped fighting and sat down with Sakura in the middle.

"You two seriously haven't grown up at all." Minato shook his head.

"You're one to talk." Naruto grumbled.

"It's ready." Kushina came out of the kitchen with plates expertly balanced on her arms. She placed one plate in front of Sasuke, and three in front of Sakura.

Sakura blushed when she felt Sasuke and Naruto stare at how much food she ordered.

"Thanks for the food." She quickly said and took a piece of bacon from one of her plates.

Once she finished her food, a little while after Sasuke had finished his, she leaned back and placed a hand on her stomach. Sakura felt completely satisfied.

"That was the best food that I have had in forever."

"I'm glad you liked it." Kushina laughed.

Sasuke yawned and stood up to stretch. "I think I'm ready to get out of here. My bed is calling for me."

"I agree." Sakura nodded and followed his lead. She bowed to the Uzumaki family, thanking them for their hospitality. She started to bring out her money, but Sasuke was quicker than she was.

"Sasuke, you know that you're family. You don't have to-"

"Just take it. I want you to."

Kushina sighed and took the money, then kissed Sasuke's cheek. "Thank you for coming by. It was nice to meet you, Sakura."

"Same here. I enjoyed it."

On their way back to Kanoha, Sakura fought her body to stay awake. Her full stomach had intensified her fatigue.

"This is the turn, right?"

"Yeah." She yawned. "It's the fourth building on the left." Sasuke pulled up to the side of Sakura's apartment complex. "I really had a good time. Thank you for inviting me."

"So, same time tomorrow, then?" He smirked at her as she was about to exit the car.

Sakura smiled, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "Sure."

"I'll see you then."

Sasuke waited to pull away until Sakura was safely inside of her apartment.

"Where have you been?"

Sakura jumped when she heard the voice of her best friend. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure that you ate."

"I did." Sakura smiled and felt her face become heated. She noticed how beautiful the pattern on her carpet really was.

Ino's face lit up when she saw the dreamy state that Sakura was in. "You had a date?! Who with?! Spill the beans, forehead girl!"

Sakura sat down next to Ino and began to tell her about her night.

"And then he brought me home and asked me if I wanted to do this the same time tomorrow."

Ino squealed and hugged Sakura. "That's so great! So he doesn't have a problem with you being pregnant, right?"

Sakura's smile faded, replaced with a look of guilt.

"You didn't tell him?!" Ino put her hands on her hips. "Sakura, what if this becomes serious? What if you sleep with him and he thinks that it's his? What if the idea of surrogacy freaks him out?"

"I'm planning on telling him when the time is right, Ino. I just met him for crying out loud." Sakura groaned and laid on her back. "Who knows? He could just be looking for a friend to hang out with after his shift ends."

Ino rolled her eyes. Sakura was always dense when it came to men and romantic emotions.

"You do know that you won't be able to cover up your bump with your scrubs for much longer, right?"

Sakura sighed. "I know. It's all I see when I look at myself in my mirror when I'm naked."

Ino crawled on to the couch next to Sakura and hugged her tight. "Thank you so much for doing this, Sakura."

"I'm happy for you and Sai." Sakura placed a kiss on Ino's cheek. "You deserve this baby."

In that moment, Sakura decided that Sasuke's feelings wouldn't matter. She hoped that he would understand why she was doing this for Ino, and that he would support her like everyone else. It's not like the baby was going to tie them down... Right?


	3. Chapter 3

"Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 3

It had been a couple of weeks since Sasuke and Sakura started having breakfast with each other after their shifts. Even when they weren't working, one would always end up asking the other if they had any plans. Sakura was now 20 weeks pregnant, and she found it harder to be around Sasuke with out coming out about the baby. Especially with the growing amount of time that they were spending around each other.

It was a night that they were off, and Sasuke had invited her to go out for dinner and a movie. Ino had offered to help her find the right outfit for the occasion, since it was getting more serious between the two.

"Why don't you just wear one of the dresses that I bought you the other day?" Ino huffed. She was sitting in the middle of Sakura's bed while she was throwing things out of her closet in frustration because they weren't fitting anymore, or that they showed her tiny bump.

"I feel like I'm wearing bed sheets when I wear those." Sakura said, peeking out the door. "I don't want to think of the possibility of being as big as a mattress at some point."

Ino rolled her eyes at how ridiculous Sakura sounded. Sometimes she could be a pain in her ass.

"What about this?" Sakura came out of her closet in one of her knee-length dresses. It was definitely not as loose as it once was, but Ino could barely tell that there was anything there. The black and velvety material really helped out by giving her an illusion of a flat abdomen area. Ino got up and walked past Sakura, knowing exactly what would reassure her stomach staying hidden.

"Aha!" Ino smirked, pulling out a white knitted shawl. She placed it over Sakura very carefully and stepped back. "This looks good. Showing just enough leg and not a whole lotta bump. I like it, and I'm sure Sasuke will too."

Sakura turned around and looked at herself in her full-length mirror. Her hair was styled in a slightly messy fashion, and her make up looked great. She was just so nervous about tonight, she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

"What's wrong?" Ino gave her a concerned look when she noticed the tears starting to form in Sakura's eyes.

"It's just... What if he's angry because I didn't tell him sooner?"

Ino put her hands on her hips. "Sakura, I've been trying to get you to say something to him since you first started hanging out. But... I wouldn't say that I told you so if something did happen." She hugged Sakura from behind and rested her head on her shoulder. "If he does get angry, then I say forget the guy. If he doesn't understand what it means to be able to do something like this for a person that is practically family, then he isn't worth your time." She turned Sakura to face her and gave her a huge grin. "Plus, he'd have to be blind to not want to stick around. You're hot and intelligent, _doctor_ Haruno." She giggled and poked Sakura in the middle of her forehead. "He's the one that would be losing out. Not you."

Sakura hugged Ino tight. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thank you, Ino."

There was a knock on the door, signalling that Sasuke had come right at the time he promised he would. Sakura took a deep breath and got her things.

"Good luck." Ino gave her one last look over, then practically pushed her out the door.

"Er-I-Uh... Hey." Sakura gave her date an embarrassed smile when she almost tripped and had to find her words again.

"You look nice." Sasuke offered his arm for her to balance herself on.

"Thank you." She blushed. "You look nice, too."

He really had cleaned up. Usually when they went out during the day, he would wear a t-shirt, jeans, and his work boots. Tonight, he actually had on a dark blue button up shirt that was untucked and partially opened at the top with a pair of black slacks and nicer shoes than what his work boots were.

When they approached his car, Sasuke opened the door for her.

"Oh, this is new." Sakura tried to tease. "So there is a gentlemanly bone in your body after all."

"But of course." Sasuke mocked the teasing tone that Sakura had. "What kind of date would this be if I didn't try to do the romantic thing?"

Sakura felt her face heat up again from his words. He really did think of this as a date. An actual _real_ date.

He shut her door and got in on his side when he noticed the dreamy look she had on her face as she stared at her lap. It only made him wonder what was going on in that head of hers. _Is this what keeps drawing me to her?_

His phone beeped, reminding him what time he had made reservations for, which brought him back to the more important things he had planned for their night.

Sasuke wasn't the kind of guy that would press for anything sexual. He believed in waiting as long as he and his partner could withstand waiting... For the most part at least. He shuddered at the thought of his first and _only_ one night stand. It was a baaaad experience that still seemed to haunt him, even though it happened nearly ten years ago.

With Sakura, he found himself wanting to be serious. For the first time since high school, he really wanted to take his time. Hell, he was almost thirty. What was wrong with keeping marriage in the picture? His mother always did annoy him with nagging about settling down like Itachi had. Once there were grandchildren in the picture, she even started nagging about how she would never live to see Sasuke's children.

He smirked to himself and shook his head. _Ha. Kids? I haven't even asked her to be my girlfriend yet, and I'm already wandering into that. Keep it together, Sasuke._

Meanwhile, Sakura had something different going on in her head as he drove. She kept glancing to him, and saw how happy he looked. She felt guilty, almost like she had been lying to him the whole time that they had been hanging out. Ino constantly told her that she needed to put it out there sooner rather than later, but sadly... Later was tonight.

She was lucky that pregnancy had been kind enough to not let her be so big like many women she saw. She knew that all bodies were different, and she was scared that hers would turn on her. The way she looked tonight, it looked like she had just put on a few inches thanks to the garment that Ino had found. If Sasuke had noticed her weight gain, he would probably tease her about the amount of food that she always got from Kushina's.

The car slowed to a stop in front of a fancy restaurant, and a valet opened Sakura's door for her. She hadn't even noticed that they had gone into the actual city of Kanoha. Sasuke must have been as nervous as she was, because they kept glancing at each other the whole way, then getting lost in their own private thoughts again.

Sasuke handed his keys over to the valet, then offered his arm to Sakura. She shyly looped her arm with his, feeling her cheeks heat up when he looked at her with a warm gaze.

Walking in, Sakura hardly noticed the fancy decor. All she saw were the people in elegant dresses and suits, and suddenly she felt exposed. Sasuke gently pulled her towards the table that their waiter had shown them to.

"Don't worry, okay. You look great. You really do." He encouraged her to sit down, and once she finally gave in, he went to his seat across from her.

"What would you like to drink tonight?" Their waiter asked, looking down his nose at the couple. Sakura shrank down in her seat, feeling like he was silently judging her.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was obviously used to dining in places like this. He was looking through the drink menu, deep in thought.

"What are the specials tonight? I'd like to choose a good wine to pair with my main course."

Sakura swallowed hard. He was going to just get a glass of wine, right? It wasn't like he was going to get a bottle for them to share or anything... Right?

"The lamb sounds nice. Sakura, what do you think?"

The waiter and Sasuke were both staring at the young woman, awaiting her answer.

"Um. Yeah. Lamb is fine with me." She tried to at least pretend she was listening to what had been said.

"Then... We'd like a bottle of the Campo de Borja."

"I'll bring that for you ri-"

"I'll just take water for me, please." Sakura quickly added before the waiter left.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course, miss."

When the waiter left, Sasuke was looking at Sakura really confused.

"What was that about?

"I have a thing tomorrow... I just don't want to wake up hung over is all." She quickly laughed it off.

"Doctor Haruno, are you telling me that you really are that much of a light weight?" He smirked at her.

"No... It's not that." Sakura looked uncertainly at her lap.

Sasuke's look of amusement faded into curiosity when she didn't reply with a snappy comeback. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." She quickly answered, then took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Did I really swoon you so much that you have lost the ability to sass properly?" He chuckled. When Sakura didn't try to joke along with him, that was when he really knew something was up.

"Here you are, sir." The waiter returned with a couple of salad plates and their drinks, breaking the awkward silence. He poured Sasuke's wine, and after asking if they had any other requests, left with a bow to go and attend to other tables.

"Okay, something is obviously up." Sasuke finally spoke after he observed Sakura picking at the tomatoes in her salad. "You're not eating. Are you feeling well?"

Sakura took a deep breath and put her fork down. "I guess it is just nerves. I've never really been the dating type before." She lied over what was really going on in her head. If she could get him to somehow start talking about his future and his opinion on the limits of family and friendships, maybe she'd be able to slip in an innocent question.

Then hit him with the truth like a huge stab in the chest.

"Well... Let's not treat this like a date. It's just a fancier place to hang out compared to normal." Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "How about 20 questions?"

 _Perfect!_ Sakura thought, immediately seeing a chance. "Okay, you first."

"What is one thing that you love about yourself?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head. He always started with that question. "Like I've said before, Uchiha. There's too much to love about myself than to just choose one trait."

"And like I've said, Haruno," He smirked in reply, "I ask that first because I find the quality of self-confidence attractive."

Sakura tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to pretend that she didn't notice the heat that came from her face. "Fine, fine." She waved her hand. "What do you like most about your life?"

Sasuke swallowed the bite of salad he had in his mouth before answering. "Hmm..." He looked like he really thought about his answer. "I'd have to say being an adult. Then again, that's also one of the shitty aspects of my life. For sure, I like the freedom I have, but I really do sometimes miss being a kid and getting into trouble all the time."

"But officer, isn't it your job to uphold the law?" Sakura teased as she put her glass down after taking a sip from it.

"Believe it or not, when I was in high school, I was a totally different person than the refined gentleman you see sitting before you today." He chuckled. "I was more like the dobe is, but I didn't pick fights because I was an idiot like he is."

"Then why did you pick fights?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You took psychology, didn't you? I guess it was a mixture of teenage angst and having the need of being the alpha male on campus like my brother was when he was in high school."

Sakura looked at him curiously. "Did you take psychology?"

"I have a life outside of the PD and hanging out with you." He chuckled. "I'm still in college. I want to do more than being just a simple officer, you know."

"So... What do you want to do?" Sakura's interest was completely captivated by this man. She had forgotten her nerves and problems she was facing, and was now genuinely curious about his dreams. As he talked, she ate her salad as if it were popcorn in a movie theater and he was the feature presentation.

"Well, since my older brother is most likely going to be chief after my dad retires, I decided once I joined the academy that I really didn't want to work for my brother my entire career." He kept his dark eyes locked with hers as he spoke, trying to keep his focus on articulating the right words to express himself. "I always found an interest in why people did the things that they did. Even the scientific nature of it all."

"Don't tell me that you plan on becoming a medical examiner." Sakura wrinkled her nose, imagining Sasuke coming home after a long day of dealing with bodies and bodily fluid. Sure, it was not really that different from her job, but the fact that her patients had a freaking heartbeat mattered way more to her. Even in medical school, she had issues trying to deal with the cadavers like she had to when practicing simple procedures.

"No." Sasuke pushed his plate toward Sakura, having finished the tomatoes that he could find, and noticed that she had devoured her own. "I want to be a forensic analyst of sorts. I want to profile people and use these eyes to see things that can't be seen on the mere surface of a human facade."

"Do you truly believe that you can figure out the lengths that a human will go for a desire to do something to prevent people from being hurt or figuring out why they committed certain crimes?"

"I believe that there's still a lot of things to be learned about the mind, and motive is one that is always tested over and over again." Sasuke took a sip of his wine. "Do you ever come across patients that don't vaccinate their children?"

"All the time, lately. Why?" The sudden change in subject caught the young doctor off guard.

"What do you think the motive behind their decisions could be?" He leaned forward, interested to hear her opinion.

"Well, there's a lot of parents that believe that the natural defense of a body is weakened when an infant recieves shots. Also, there are other parents that are afraid of their children dying because of the side effects from the vaccines."

"But is it really worth it?" Sasuke asked. "They're still risking their child's life either way."

"I guess if you had two mothers that both had newborns, there is probability that they think differently because of what they have learned over their years. One could think that it's just sensible to get her baby vaccinated because it's been so successful in keeping a child healthy for so long. The other mother could have been through something traumatic, or knows of something that happened to another person, and push away anyone trying to stick a needle in her baby."

Sasuke nodded. "I see."

Their conversation was interrupted when their waiter brought the couple their food. He sat the plates in front of them, then bowed. "Enjoy."

The two decided to put their game of questions on hold until they left the restaurant.

Once Sasuke paid the bill, he and Sakura went outside into the crisp air.

They decided to walk around for a while before he took Sakura home, so he got the key from the vallet on their way out.

"So, should we continue on with our game?" Sakura innocently asked as they walked. "I believe it was your turn."

"Hm... Who has had the most influence on you in your life?"

Sakura smiled to herself. "Ino. She's my best friend that you've met a few times."

"Ah. Sai's wife." Sasuke nodded. "And why her?"

"She's the one that brought me out of my shell when I was little. All of these girls used to pick on me because of my huge forehead, then she came along and showed me how to own my looks and what it meant to love myself."

"I see."

Sakura took a deep breath and carefully thought of her question to ask him. "So... Do you believe in friends becoming the equivilent to family?"

"If this is your way of putting me in the friendzone, no." Sasuke chuckled.

Sakura lightly hit his shoulder. "I'm serious."

"Fine. Fine." He rolled his eyes. "Though I really hate admitting it out loud, I honestly see the dobe more of a brother than my actual brother. It might be because Itachi is so much older, but I'd do anything for him the same way I would for my family."

"It's just like me and Ino." Sakura nodded. "I'd do anything for her."

Sakura's hand casually brushed against Sasuke's as they approached a park. Since it was the weekend, there were still a few young kids and their parents out playing under the street lamps.

"What is your passion in life?" He gently caught her hand when he felt it brush against his again.

"Seeing others live happily." She lightly squeezed his hand. It was quiet for a few minutes, aside from the sounds of the children playing. The couple couldn't help but smile at the innocence they saw when they observed them running around.

"What is your opinion on surrogacy?"

Sasuke looked down at her expressionless face, caught off guard by this weird question. She never moved her head to lock eyes with him.

"Well... That's..." He rubbed the back of his head, trying to search for the words. "I think it's a good thing for someone to do. They allow people to have kids that can't. Why do you ask?"

Sakura took a deep breath and felt her throat tighten when she opened her mouth to answer. "Please don't be angry."

"Angry? Angry over what?"

Sakura let go of his hand and turned to face him fully.

"I have been keeping something from you, and I need to come clean before we decide to get serious."

"You're not sick, are you?" Sasuke's face turned from confusion to worry.

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"I said that I'd do anything for Ino, and I mean it by _anything_." Sakura looked away from Sasuke's intense eyes. "I'm pregnant with her and Sai's baby."

"Oh." Sasuke's face went blank, and he just stood there frozen. "How... long?"

"Twenty weeks." She hesitantly answered.

Sasuke sat down on the bench that was behind him and ran his fingers through his hair, gathering his thoughts so he could process what she was saying.

"So... That's why you wouldn't drink any of the times you were with me..."

"And why I ran away when I saw Naruto's eggs." She added. "If you're angry, I completely understand."

"I'm not angry that you're doing this." Sasuke answered, never looking up to her. "I'm upset over the fact that you never told me until now."

"I really am sorry." She looked down, tears threatening to form.

Sasuke didn't say anything else for a while, which made Sakura want to be sick.

"I... I think I'm going to call Ino to pick me up." She turned to walk away, but felt a hand grab her wrist.

"I'm not letting you go off by yourself while it's dark. I'll take you home."

"No, you obviously need time to think." Sakura still refused to look up at him. "I'll be okay. Thank you for buying me dinner, Sasuke. I did have a good time tonight."

She gently slipped out of his grip and walked away.

 _What are you doing, you idiot? You can't let her leave._

Sasuke's body wouldn't let him move, though. All he was able to do was watch as she walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

"Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 4

There were times that Sasuke felt stupid. Not like the dobe-kind of stupid, but stupid in the sense of sticking his hand in a fire even though he knew it was going to sting.

That night that he met Sakura, he knew that there was a heat that attracted him to her, but he didn't realize how passionate this heat of hers was.

He could see from the beginning how much Yamanaka's wife meant to this woman, but never in his life would he guess that Sakura would be doing something as big as being a surrogate for the couple.

She said that he needed time to think about what she was doing before they began to get serious, and after getting over the shock of the news she delivered, he decided that she was right.

Sasuke laid in bed, staring at his ceiling and trying to think rationally of what he wanted to do. He kept glancing to the phone that laid on his night stand, almost hoping that Sakura would call him. However, he knew that she wouldn't because she believed that it was the man that needed to pursue her when it came to being with someone. It always amused him when she would say things like that. It was basically her way of saying: "You better have the balls, or you're not worth my time.".

It was 1 AM, and he wasn't sure if Sakura would be awake. He knew that she had work tomorrow night, and needed her sleep during the day, so there was always a possibility that she was staying up and doing whatever women did to keep themselves occupied.

The young Uchiha groaned and picked up his phone, quickly opening Sakura's contact information. He hesitated on pressing the call button when he saw the sarcastic smile of her picture.

There was a lot of complex things about this woman that he just didn't get. She kept something so big from him, and yet he still couldn't help but want to know more about her. It wasn't that he was angry over Sakura's decision to be the Yamanaka's surrogate, it was more of the fact that he was worried over if Sakura considered him important to her. He would never say that, of course. But did she really think of him as someone she could rely on, especially while she was pregnant?

The teasing glint in her eyes that he saw in her photo was practically daring him to make a move. He could just imagine her saying "Do you even have the nerve to press that button?" in her mocking tone that she always had when they would make fun of each other.

Sasuke smirked to himself when he decided what he was going to do. He locked the phone and put it back down on his night stand. He realized that he didn't care what this girl did with her life, because it was just that- _her life._

He wasn't going to give her up, though. Not this easily.

Sakura sat on her couch huddled under a blanket with a bowl of popcorn and peanut butter sitting in her lap, the glow from the TV being the only source of light in the room. She decided that she needed to binge watch and eat all of the things in her apartment after the night she had with Sasuke. Since she became pregnant, she was unable to work out like she did before to relieve her stress, so she just gave in to the insane cravings and continuously stuffed her face until there was nothing left.

Sakura really wished in this moment that Ino hadn't become a responsible adult and went to bed as soon as midnight hit. Her excuse was that she had a baby on the way, so she needed to let herself become accustomed to the schedule of a normal mother would be. Sakura respected her wishes to not be woken up unless something was wrong with her or the baby. She didn't believe that what transpired during her date with Sasuke was important enough to wake her best friend up for, anyway. Sai was off tonight, and she wanted the couple to enjoy their night that they got to have each other in their arms.

Just like the couple she was currently watching on the TV screen.

Sakura felt tears roll down her cheeks. These stupid hormones made her cry at anything, now. It didn't help that all she seemed to think about was that Sasuke would never want to see her again after the secret that she kept from him. Yes, she only knew him for a few weeks, but she had felt that she finally met someone who understood a lot of the things in her life that Ino didn't. That was a huge deal for her.

The young doctor forced herself to pay attention to what was on the screen. She didn't even want to begin to think what was going to happen to her time with Ino when the blonde became a mother. Sure, Sakura knew that she wouldn't leave her high and dry, but she also knew that children were what took up a majority of a mother's time. This meant that Ino's social time was going to be very little.

The music on the show Sakura was watching began to get intense, signalling that the couple's tender moment was about to come to an end. From the reputation that the show had, she knew it wasn't going to be a very happy one.

An intruder had entered their home, and was sneaking his way up to their room. The couple was too engrossed with their mouths to even hear what was coming. The floor made little creaks, which they must have thought was their bed. The figure in black got closer, and he pulled out a gun. As he came around the corner, he pulled the trigger and-

"SHIT!" Sakura's heart almost stopped when she heard knocking on her door. The bowl of popcorn went flying as she clutched her chest with one hand, and her bump with the other. Once she steadied her breathing, she paused the show to go and see who in the earthly hell would be at her door at almost 2 AM.

She grabbed the nearest thing that could be used as a weapon, and looked through her peephole. She turned on her outdoor light to see who it was, but she forgot that her bulb had gone out.

 _Great._ She thought to herself. _I'm going to get killed by a psycho killer because I forgot to change a stupid light bulb._

Sakura clutched her weapon in her right hand, and put her left on the knob to open the door. She quickly swung it open and was ready to strike when two strong hands grabbed her wrists.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Easy, Sakura! It's only me!"

"Let go of me!" She yelled, struggling to get out of the person's grip. She ended up dropping the object in her hand in the process.

She looked up to the person in horror when she heard him begin to laugh. "An umbrella? Are you serious right now, Haruno?"

Sakura squinted her eyes to see if she could make out who it was. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

He let go of her wrists and picked up the umbrella that she had armed herself with.

"Maybe you need to invest with something that can do a little more damage to predators." He teasingly said as he handed it back to the woman. "Why didn't you turn on the light first before you opened the door?"

Sakura looked away, her cheeks coloring with embarrassment. "I forgot to change out the bulb. To be honest, I couldn't find my step ladder to change it. I think Ino hid it so I wouldn't be climbing anything."

"Do you have any inside?"

"Yes, but I can wait to change it in the morning."

"Or you can go and get one now so that I can do it while I'm standing here."

"Sasuke, really, you don't need to." Sakura insisted.

"I want to reassure myself that if something like this were to happen again, you would be able to see who was at your door." Sasuke was using his tone that he used when he was on the job. She could tell that he was being serious.

"Fine... Go ahead and come inside."

She stepped aside and let him in her home. As she left to go and retrieve a new bulb, she turned on the light switch to the living room to give him light while he waited.

Sasuke looked around the small place, surprised to see it in such a cluttered state. There was a blanket thrown over her couch with a red bowl laying upside down. Popcorn seemed to be everywhere, along with various wrappers from different junk foods.

"I'm sorry about the mess. It's not usually like this." Sakura had returned and saw him examining her living space.

"Trust me, I've seen worse. The dobe tried to grow his science experiment from a cup of ramen that was half eaten during our eleventh grade year, and we didn't find it until he moved out a couple of years ago." Sasuke held out his hand for the bulb Sakura was holding.

"You never answered my question earlier. What are you doing here so late?"

"Let's talk after I finish doing this." Sasuke walked outside, and Sakura followed to watch him.

He easily reached the dead bulb and twisted it out. Sakura's chest panged slightly as she watched him do this simple task for her. Was he doing this to avoid talking to her? Or was it because he really wanted to make sure that she was safe?

Once Sasuke was done, he handed the useless bulb to Sakura and smirked at her. "All done."

The two returned back into the apartment, closing the door behind them.

Sakura cleared away some of the mess so that they could sit down on the couch.

They awkwardly sat in silence for a few minutes while they racked their brains to figure out something to say. Sakura was afraid that Sasuke had come to tell her that he didn't want to see her again, while the raven-haired man was trying to think of a way to ask her if she would let him be a part of her life in any way that she felt comfortable with. He nervously glanced at her abdomen, which he could now tell that there was indeed something growing underneath her shirt.

Sakura suddenly became even more self conscious, and reached to cover herself with her blanket, but Sasuke stopped her.

"You don't have to cover yourself up. It's just different is all."

"You know it's just going to keep growing until I can barely walk, right?"

"So?"

"So, I'd understand if you didn't see me as a desirable person anymore."

Sasuke scoffed. "Do you really see me as someone to be that shallow?"

"Of course not, it's just... I understand if it creeps you out."

Sasuke reached over and took one of her hands in his. "Sakura, I've thought it over and over again since you left me alone tonight. I think what you're doing for your friend is amazing."

"Do you? Please be honest with me, Uchiha. If it isn't obvious, my hormones are raging right now. If I sense even just a little bit of uncertainty, I won't be able to handle a relationship with you."

Sasuke nodded his head with determination. "I promise that what you are doing does not change the way I feel about you."

"And just how do you feel?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He chuckled and brushed his thumb lightly over the hand that he held. "You have captivated my attention, Sakura Haruno. That isn't an easy thing to do."

Sakura felt her cheeks redden when she looked at his intense gaze. She knew that he wasn't lying. Even Naruto would joke from time to time about how it had been forever since he had seen Sasuke hanging out with a girl and how he had thought that maybe Sasuke was more into the homosexual lifestyle. She hadn't known them for very long, but as far as their friendship was, she was able to see that Naruto would do anything to embarrass Sasuke. If he was a player, Naruto would definitely have said something.

"So... What are you saying, Sasuke?" She finally mustered up the courage to ask him.

"I'm saying that I want to try this out." He answered. "I want to pursue this, Sakura. What do you think?"

Sakura stared in awe at the man before her. She wasn't expecting him to be as okay with her being pregnant like he was being right then. His words were genuine, and that's all she ever wanted from him.

"I think I want to be with you, too."

Sasuke smirked and reached his face forward as if he was going to kiss her, which caught Sakura off guard. She closed her eyes, and waited for his lips to meet hers, but she felt a gentle poke on her forehead instead.

She opened her eyes to see his teasing smile.

"I'm not going to kiss you just yet, Haruno." He chuckled.

Sakura felt slightly disappointed at his words. "Wasn't that what you were about to do?"

"I want to ask you in the way I was going to tonight." Sasuke reached into his pocket and held out a box. "My father always taught me and my brother that when we make the decision to be in a relationship that we had to find a way to show the pride that we take in her so that everyone knows that she is something special."

He opened the box, and inside was a silver necklace with an uchiwa fan pendant.

"This is my family's crest." Sasuke explained. "I know it's a lame way to ask, but Sakura, I want you to be my girlfriend."

Sakura felt like she was in high school again. Her face turned bright red, and she began to giggle because she couldn't contain herself anymore.

Sasuke, however, became embarrassed by her response. His ears had turned red, and his face showed that he was not amused by her laughter.

"I'm sorry. I just find it adorable that you would do something like this." She said after regaining her composure. "Yes, Sasuke. I will be your girlfriend."

Sasuke closed the box, and turned his body away from her. "Nope, I take it back."

Sakura could tell that he was just pouting because it hadn't happened the way he had hoped it would.

She reached over, trying to grab it from his hand. "But I already said yes, so technically that's mine now."

"What do you think you're doing? Get off of me." He took his hand out of her reach, thinking she wouldn't dare to go any further to get the box.

Sakura climbed completely on him, straddling his waist as she did her best to reach for his hand that he held over his head.

Sasuke's face heated up when he realized what she was doing. Sakura reached up even further, causing her chest to come up further to his face.

"Fine!" He quickly gave in and forced her to sit down on his lap before he found himself in an even more risque position with her breasts suffocating him.

Sakura had a victorious smile on her face when he handed her the black box.

This time, it was her turn to catch him off guard. While he fought to control himself, Sakura quickly moved her face closer to his.

"So, are you going to kiss me or not?" She giggled.

"After that, I'm not sure if you deserve it just yet." He smirked, playing along with her little game she had started.

"You know, I could always kiss you first."

"Then why don't you?"

Sakura and Sasuke sat there, watching one another for a few moments. They could feel each other's breath on their faces. It was like an intense staring contest, trying to see who would give in and make the first move.

"Tsk." Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled her completely forward into him, and kissed her in a passionate manner.

Sakura felt her heart flutter in her chest when their lips met. She had never been kissed like this before.

They broke apart for air, and just embraced each other.

"So, this is a thing, right?" Sakura had buried her face in his shoulder. Her face was hurting from smiling so much.

"Yes." Sasuke chuckled. "We're a thing, now."

They stayed like that for a while, and didn't even realize that they had fallen asleep until the sunlight made its way through Sakura's window the next morning.


	5. Chapter 5

"Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 5

There were times that Sakura loved her job, and times that she wished that she had gone a different route. Today was one of those days, in the midst of her 28th week of pregnancy.

She had just gotten off of night shifts and switched over to lead the day shift ER staff. School had just started, so it was getting more and more common for children to be coming in with their parents for some fake illness to get out of going. It was getting more and more annoying with each patient she saw.

"How stupid can these parents get?" Sakura groaned as she sat down next to Ino in the break room.

"Tell me about it." Ino rolled her eyes. "Thank goodness we both have more common sense to wait things out before coming in for the tiniest thing."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, tell me that when this one gets here."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Come on, forehead. You know that we nurses wait until someone is dying before bringing them to the hospital."

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing you." She nudged the blonde.

"Sakura, we have an incoming. ETA 5 minutes." One of the nurses peeked her head through the door.

Sakura groaned and put her hair back up. "Get them in bay three when they get here."

She and Ino stood up and stretched simultaneously. "We still got ten hours to go. You good?"

"I would be if people would think more." Sakura groaned and threw her empty cup away after finishing off her tea.

Ino nodded in understanding, then waved her off to go do her job.

Once the ambulance arrived, an EMT was giving Sakura a rundown on her newest arrival. It was a boy approximately ten years old, that had started seizing on his way to school. He had deep red hair and his eyes were going to the back of his head, so she was unable to check his pupils' reactions.

"How long has he been like this?" Sakura asked as they pushed the stretcher into the bay he was assigned to.

"Since we got there."

Sakura clicked her tongue and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid to inject him with. She aimed the needle but was quickly smacked away.

"Doctor?" Everyone was staring, shocked that she missed.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and went to inject him again, but the seizing boy knocked her hand away again.

Sakura put her hands on her hips and glared at the boy.

"Doctor, we need to-"

"Shh!" Sakura cut the nurse off. "Don't touch him."

After a few more seconds, a gurgle came from the boy.

Sakura blocked the nurse from touching him. She was noticeably irritated by now.

"Are you not going to do anything, lady?!"

The room fell silent as the boy's "seizing" had stopped, and he was furiously glaring up at the doctor.

"You guys can go, we've got it from here," Sakura ordered the EMTs.

The boy sat up and puffed his cheeks out. He avoided the burning glare the pinkette was giving him.

"Sweetie, what's your name." The nurse asked.

"Don't think that just cuz you're being nice that I'd tell you." He stuck his tongue out at the woman.

Sakura's brow twitched. "Okay, then you'll tell me. You're already in trouble for this little stunt you pulled, so you might as well cooperate with us so we can get in contact with your parents to come and get you."

"Heh. Won't work, granny." The kid smirked. "My mom doesn't wake up before noon anyway, so you're out of luck."

Sakura balled up her hand into a fist. _Granny?_

"If you're not going to tell us anything, my police friends will have to come here. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Hmph." The kid rolled his eyes. "Like I care."

Sakura was getting more and more annoyed with this kid's attitude by the second. Just who in the hell did he think he was?

"Fine then." She turned to the nurse. "Hana, I'll be back. Make sure to keep your eye on John Doe, here."

"Yes, ma'am." The nurse nodded, and Sakura swiftly turned on her heel out of the room.

After about fifteen minutes, Officer Hatake and Sasuke showed up.

"So, what seems to be the problem, doc?" Kakashi asked, nodding to the woman in greeting.

"I have a kid in bay 3 that thought it would be a brilliant idea to waste my EMS's time by faking a seizure on his way to school. He refuses to tell us his name, and is being completely uncooperative."

"These teens keep getting more and more defiant these days." The white haired man shook his head.

"He's ten." Sakura flatly stated.

The two officers raised their eyebrows at this information.

"Follow me."

She led the two officers to the child, who was sitting on a gurney watching TV and drinking juice.

"Hana, I said to keep an eye on him, not reward him." The doctor looked more annoyed at the sight of the relaxed boy.

"Sorry, I'm not that good with kids." The young nurse hung her head.

"Don't worry about it." Sakura sighed. "We've got it from here. Go help with the patient intake."

"Yes, ma'am."

Sakura pulled the curtain back and flipped off the TV as the officers came in behind her.

The boy looked to the doctor in annoyance. "I was watching that."

"It sucks, doesn't it." She glared back to the child. "I was enjoying a little break before you were brought in."

The boy scoffed. "From the looks of it, you need to lay off of the breaks."

Sakura's mouth fell open at his comment. She started to lunge forward when Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder and cleared his throat.

Sakura took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Now that the officers are here, why don't we have a little chat?"

"Nah. I don't feel like talking. Thanks for asking, though."

"I don't think you see how serious this is." Kakashi sat down next to the boy. "You can be put in juvenile detention for what you pulled."

The boy looked at the officer in confusion. "But I didn't do this at school. They can't give me detention for that."

"It's where kids go to jail," Sasuke told him.

The boy's eyes widened. "But I thought only adults went to jail."

"It doesn't work that way. That's why Doctor Haruno here was trying to get information so she didn't have to call us." Kakashi explained.

"Yeah. We take these kinds of things very seriously." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What if they couldn't have gotten to someone that really needed medical attention because you were wasting the EMS's time?"

"It's still funny." The boy mumbled as he turned away.

"You're the only one that seems to find it hilarious," Sakura growled.

"Look kid. We really don't want to have to arrest you, so just tell us your name and how to contact your parents." Sasuke was as cool as ever when he spoke to the brat. Sakura was amazed that he wasn't as annoyed as she was.

"Arrest me?! You'd really do that?!" Now horror seemed to show through the boy's facade.

"Yeah. Juvi isn't a good place for ten-year-olds to go, so I'd start talking if I were you."

The boy looked down at his hands and sighed. "Fine... My name is Yasuo Uzumaki. My mom is named Karin, and we just moved here a few days ago."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Uzumaki... As in Karin Uzumaki? There's no way she was back. Not after her disappearing act she pulled after high school ended.

"Do you have her contact information?" Kakashi asked. "If she comes to pick you up, we'll just let you off with a warning this time."

The boy sighed and slowly nodded.

Sasuke stood up to leave the room. "I'm going to check on something. Do you have everything else handled?"

"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "I'll wait here with him."

Sasuke motioned for Sakura to follow him, and the two adults left the room.

"His mother must be a piece of work to raise her child to act that way," Sakura grumbled. "The _nerve_ of him implying that I'm fat _and_ old! If I were his mother, I would have made him apologize right then and there and put the fear of God into him!"

Sasuke laid a hand on her head, calming her down a little.

"If this is the Karin I know... The boy's actions don't really shock me."

"Wait. You think you know his mother?"

Sasuke shrugged and opened his phone to text the dobe.

"Naruto has this cousin that lived with him while he was growing up. She was the most infuriating and annoying person I'd ever met." Sasuke sighed and put the device back in his front pocket once the message was sent. "To be honest, after graduation we got shitfaced at my grandfather's lake house. She was my first and only one-night stand, and no one had heard from her since then. It's been almost eleven years now."

He looked to the closed curtain the boy was behind.

"Wait... You don't think that-"

"I don't know," Sasuke answered, already knowing the question she was about to ask. "I mean, it was only the one time."

"But once can be all it takes." Sakura sighed.

"Look, I can be wrong, so let's not just jump to conclusions." Sasuke gave her a small smile. "I just want to be safe about this."

Sakura snickered. "Because you weren't 'safe' when you fucked his mother."

He frowned. "Very funny, Haruno."

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Whatever the outcome is, I don't care. I did some things in my past that I'm not too proud of, either."

Sasuke's phone started ringing as he was about to say something. He pulled it out and frowned at the picture of Naruto staring at him from the screen.

"Take it. He might know what's going on." Sakura nudged him to go outside to take the call.

Sasuke sighed and answered. Sakura laughed when she heard the frantic yelling on the other line as he walked out and attempted to get the idiot to stop being so loud.

"Here's the lab reports for bay 6." One of the nurses tapped on Sakura's shoulder.

"Thanks." Sakura smiled as she took the reports. She still had nine hours to go.


	6. Chapter 6

"Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 6

Sasuke sat in front of Naruto and his parents after his shift ended. They had come together to talk about Karin's return to Konoha.

"And you said she has a kid?" Minato shook his head. "How can that be? Do you know if that's why she left without saying anything to us?"

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed. "He was giving Sakura a hard time this morning, so she called us in. We threatened the boy with juvie and he started blabbing everything we needed to know."

"Surely it's not _our_ Karin," Naruto spoke up. "I mean, there's gotta be a lot of Karin Uzumakis out there, right?"

"Naruto, you know very well that it's her." Kushina rolled her eyes. She was annoyed by all of this. After hearing how horrible the child was, her only guess was that Karin had come back because she couldn't handle him anymore and she was probably going to dump him on them like her sister had done with Karin before she took off.

"And what about his father? Did he mention anything about him?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other knowingly. They were the only other two besides Karin that knew about what happened at the lake house.

"Boys?" Kushina eyed them. "You know something, don't you?"

Sasuke sighed. "The father is out of the picture, but..."

"But?"

The Uchiha swallowed hard. "You remember how we all went to the lake the night of graduation and you told us to not do anything stupid?"

"No..." Minato looked lost, but Kushina was sharper than her husband.

"What exactly happened out there that night? I know your grandmother had called me infuriated over the mess you left the place in."

"Lots of alcohol happened," Naruto admitted, looking down.

Kushina focussed her stare on Sasuke at this point. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded. "I uh... I did some things I wasn't too proud of that night. One of those was sleeping with Karin down at the docks."

Both Minato and Kushina's eyes widened at his admission.

"It was my first and only time I've been with her." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "You know how much she annoyed me."

"So you slept with her?" Kushina shook her head. "Damn it Sasuke. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. We were out there to celebrate, and we were hormone driven teenagers."

"Well, if the boy is around ten, the time frame seems about right," Minato stated after a few moments of awkward silence. "You saw him, so what do you think? Did he look anything like you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It was only briefly. He had her hair and his eyes were dark. That was the only thing I was really able to tell about him."

"Did you at least ask Sakura to run a DNA test or something?" Kushina asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't think there was a reason to. If Karin wanted to me to know I was his father, you know that she would have come after me a long time ago."

Kushina tapped her finger on her chin as she thought about the whole situation. "I know my niece. She's more about a good time and getting all the money she can."

"And Sasuke's family is loaded," Naruto stated.

"Let's just stay wary about this." Kushina sighed. "I don't like that she's back as much as anyone else does, but she's still family."

Minato patted her back. "I know what you mean, dear."

"You can't be serious!" Naruto exclaimed. "She used us her whole life, and you're going to let that continue?!"

"Naruto, it's not the boy's fault that he was dealt the wrong cards in life." Minato met his blue eyes with his son's. "That's why we helped Karin like we did. It wasn't her fault that her mother thought that she had better things to do than to raise her. Now that the cycle has repeated itself, we need to help the boy break it before it can happen again."

Naruto looked down, somewhat understanding what his father meant.

"But Sasuke, if he _is_ yours..." Kushina sighed. "What are you planning on doing about it?"

Sasuke blinked a few times, caught off guard by her question. What _was_ he going to do if that kid was his?

Sakura said she'd stand by him whatever he decided, and the longer he was with her, the more his mind was made up that she was it for him.

But if he decided to be part of the kid's life, that meant that Karin would probably have to be part of it, too. He'd encounter her more than he'd like, and that meant that Sakura would too.

Karin and Sakura would meet.

Sasuke groaned and put his head in his hands. He really wanted to go back in time and punch his younger self in the face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura was at Sai and Ino's apartment. They had invited her over to talk about "something very important" as Ino put it.

They had just finished dinner and were now sitting in the couple's living room. Sakura was in a very good mood. She had eaten well, and she was now resting without the worry of returning to work for the next couple of days. Life was good.

"So, what would you think about moving in with us?"

Sakura's eyes shot open.

"Way to talk her up to it," Ino grumbled, smacking her husband on the back of the head. He was never one to beat around the bush.

"Why would I want to do that?" Sakura asked. "I have my own place, and it's within walking distance of the hospital. Do you know how hard it is to find something like that?"

Sai gave Ino a look as if his point was made. Ino puffed out her cheeks.

"Look, is this about me breast feeding?" Sakura sighed. "I promised you that I'd pump if I was able to produce. Ino, there's no guarantee that I'd be able to breastfeed anyway. Besides, I'm 28. I'd rather live on my own at this point."

"And I get that, Forehead." Ino groaned. "It's just, Sai and I have found a place and we're closing on it in a few days. I'm just worried about not living as close to you as all. I want to be there if something happens."

"Ino, you're still within driving distance of the hospital."

"What about your recovery after you give birth? Did you think about that?"

"I'm healthy and everything is going normally. Unless it's emergent, I won't have a cesarian. I'll be up and walking within an hour. I'll be fine."

The two women kept their eyes locked, having a silent argument with each other. Finally, Ino broke away and sighed.

"At least just think about it. You're not gonna live in your apartment forever, and it'd just be doing us both a huge favor to have you live with us for the first year at least."

Sakura giggled. "I value my sleep, thank you."

Ino continued to pout for the rest of Sakura's stay. Sasuke came later on to take her back to her apartment so that they could talk.

"Hey," Sakura greeted as she got into his car. She leaned over his console and kissed him.

"How was dinner?"

"Awkward," Sakura shrugged. "You? What did Kushina and Minato have to say about your situation?"

Sasuke let out a long sigh. "They had no clue about graduation night, so when Naruto and I told them, I was scolded. I expect nothing less because they're like another set of parents for me. They said Karin hasn't contacted them, but they seem to think that if she really is back in town, she's here to abandon the kid."

Sakura frowned. "Why would she do that?"

"It's all she knows," Sasuke answered. "Her mom did it to her, and now there's a strong possibility that she's going to do it to her son."

"What if he's yours?"

Sasuke shook his head. "That seems to be the question of the night. I'm not sure what I can do."

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek. She knew that it must be a hard situation to be in. At the end of the day, Sakura was giving the kid inside her to Ino and Sai. To suddenly be a parent and have a ten-year-old child dropped in your lap was something else entirely.

She reached out and took his resting hand that was on the console. "Sasuke, I think that you should start with contacting her and asking her directly if he's yours. You have the right to know that much."

"I know that. It's just... What do I do then? Do I just give her money and let him continue to live in her irresponsible home, or do I ask for joint custody?" He sighed and ran his thumb over her hand as their fingers intertwined. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well... I think that _if_ he's yours, he should have the right to be able to know his father. _You_ should have the right to know your son, and _your family_ deserves the right to enjoy him as well. Even though he is an ill-mannered brat." She grumbled out the last sentence. "I still can't believe he implied that I'm fat!"

Sasuke chuckled. "You're not. It's all baby."

"Thank you!" She huffed. "I mean the nerve of him! I'm not old, either! Just, the mouth on him was so _irritating_."

"His mother is worse," Sasuke frowned.

" I can only imagine." Sakura sighed.

The car slowed to a stop as Sasuke put it in park. They had gotten to her apartment.

"Do you want to stay tonight?" Sakura asked.

"I would, but I have to work again in the morning. I'll bring food by for lunch tomorrow, though."

Sakura grinned and leaned in for a kiss. "You're too good for me, you know that?"

"On the contrary, _you_ are too good for me." He smirked. "I don't know any other woman that would be okay with this situation, and you're just going along with it like it's nothing."

"Sasuke, you were eighteen when you slept with her. Mistakes happen. It's what makes you human." She kissed him again. "Besides, I'm not perfect either."

"So, you have a kid no one knows about?"

Sakura laughed. "No, it's nothing _that_ big. But the longer we're together and the more serious it gets, you'll see what I mean. I have demons in my past that I had to work through to get where I am today. Just think of this as an opportunity to grow and learn."

Sasuke gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You _guess_?" Sakura smirked back. "Oh Uchiha, when will you learn that I am always right?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "Haruno, what am I going to do with you?"

"That's your decision." Sakura giggled and opened her door. She turned around before shutting it. "I love you no matter what you decide, okay? Don't forget that."

She quickly shut the car door and practically ran inside her apartment.

Sasuke stayed in his car, staring at the door she had escaped behind. That was the first time she had ever said she loved him outright.

She loved him.

 _She loved him._

* * *

Sasuke was about to get in bed after having a shower when his phone rang.

His eyebrows furrowed at the unknown number on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke, it's been a while."

Sasuke swallowed hard, his good mood ruined by those five words. "Karin."


	7. Chapter 7

"Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 7

"You need to calm down, Sasuke." Sakura went to touch his shoulder, but he quickly moved away from her touch.

"Calm down?!" He growled out. "How can I calm down?!"

Sakura sighed and watched the Uchiha pace back and forth in front of her. Sasuke had shown up right as she was about to fall asleep, and he was shaking because of how angry he was. Sakura had never seen him in this state before.

"Have you talked to your dad? He knows a lot of lawyers, doesn't he?"

"I'm not bringing him into this. Not right now, at least."

"Okay..." Sakura tapped her chin as she racked her brain on how she could help her boyfriend. "Sasuke, you need to sit down and breathe. Start from the beginning of what happened."

Sasuke nodded and sat next to Sakura on her couch. She coaxed him to take a deep breath before telling her his story.

"She called me right before I got in bed." He began. "I almost didn't answer the number, and I kind of wish that I didn't now."

 _"It's been a while, Sasuke."_

 _"Karin," Sasuke spoke, keeping his voice indifferent. "Why are you calling me so late? You should be putting your son to bed. It's a school night."_

 _"Ah, yes. The other officer said that you were involved with that incident that happened before." She chuckled as if the incident were a funny afterthought. "As for Yasuo, he's a big boy. He can put himself to bed."_

 _Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You really know nothing about kids, do you?"_

 _"As if you could possibly know more."_

 _"Maybe I do."_

 _"Oh, Sasuke. You haven't changed at all." She gave a flirtatious laugh._

 _"Karin, did you have a reason to call me besides small talk? You know how much I can't stand to hear your voice."_

 _Karin clicked her tongue in annoyance on the other side of the phone. "As a matter of fact, I called to ask about your grandfather. I heard that he wasn't in good health."_

 _"Your point being?"_

 _"I'm sure you know how old Yasuo is, and I know that you're smart enough to do the math," Karin stated, sounding like she was becoming bored with Sasuke's questions. "So I'm sure it wouldn't be a shock if I told you he was yours."_

 _"Like I can believe anything that comes from your mouth," Sasuke growled. "If this is your way of getting rich quick, you can keep walking."_

 _Karin started laughing at the anger in his voice. "Well, I'm prepared to have a DNA test done if that's what you really want. I didn't expect you to be the kind of man to deny his son money that could help him thrive, though."_

 _"Are you sure it's money to help him thrive, or is it for your own selfish lifestyle?" Sasuke's voice got increasingly vicious as he spoke with the woman. "I know you, Karin. You only show your face when you get something out of it, so I highly doubt you're doing any of this for your son."_

 _"_ Our _son." She emphasized, reminding him of what was on the line._

 _"I'm not playing these games with you, Karin. The test gets done at Konoha General. You can contact me then when you're ready to make the appointment."_

"And so I hung up on her before she could say anything else." Sasuke finished his story and leaned back into the couch.

"I can speed up the process with my lab team, so just tell me when you want me to give the order," Sakura said, taking his hand and stroking it in a comforting manner.

"Sakura, she's using my grandfather's health to her advantage right now. If he found out I had a son now, let alone with someone like Karin, it will be the push she needs to send him to his grave."

Sasuke looked like he was in genuine pain. He was really close to his grandfather.

"Is there any way that you could keep that from him?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't keep secrets from my family. Especially him. He's the one that used to take care of me when my parents were too busy. He taught me what it meant to be a man, and part of that is to make sure that there's not ever any skeletons in the closet when it comes to your family. A family is there to help you get through the rough times."

"I think you just spoke what you needed to hear," Sakura said, running her hand through his hair. "Sasuke, even if his health is bad, I'm sure he'd understand. You were a kid, and it's not your fault that she ran off until now. It's not your fault that you didn't know."

Sasuke swallowed and nodded, knowing that his girlfriend had a point.

"Sasuke, you still don't know for sure if she's really telling you the truth anyway." She reminded him. "It's like you told me before. She could just be lying to take advantage of the situation."

"She's really good at that." He sighed, wrapping his arms around the pinkette. "Sakura, do me a favor and never keep something like this from me if it ever happens to us."

"And here I thought you noticed." Sakura retorted in a sarcastic tone as she patted her stomach.

Sasuke chuckled. "Haruno, you're a mess."

She giggled and nuzzled her face into his neck. "As long as I can make you smile, call me whatever you want."

"Oh," Sasuke spoke as if he remembered something. He looked down at Sakura and smirked. "I love you too."

Sakura's cheeks turned red when those words left his mouth. He remembered what she had said earlier.

"Y-yeah, about that, I didn't mean to just spring that on you, it's just-"

Sasuke cut her off with his lips. "Hn. Annoying. You talk too much."

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and attacked his lips in retaliation to his words. Sasuke gladly fought back, licking the bottom of her lip to allow him entrance to her mouth.

She groaned in pleasure as he deepened the kiss. She climbed fully into his lap, straddling his waist as they continued their battle.

Sasuke started to snake his arm up her shirt when his phone started ringing.

They broke apart for air, each of them letting out a groan of disappointment.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, kissing her forehead as he looked down to see who was interrupting their moment. To his surprise, it was Kushina calling.

"Answer it." Sakura coaxed the Uchiha has she removed herself from him. "It could be important."

"Hey, Mrs. Uzumaki. What's up?"

"Sasuke, I know it's late, but I didn't know who else to call."

"What happened?"

"It's about Karin. She just left her son on our doorstep and told him she'd be back next week to pick him up." She frantically explained. "I don't know what to do. It's like what happened with my sister all over again."

"Slow down. Where is he now?"

"He's with Naruto and Minato in the living room. I had to leave before I got too upset." He heard her voice crack. "He doesn't deserve this."

"Yeah. I know." Sasuke sighed. "I'll be there in a few minutes, so don't worry."

"Thank you."

Sasuke ended the call and hung his head. "It's just like her. She's throwing a tantrum because I didn't take her bait, so she dumped the kid."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, she was obviously angry with the situation. "Go to them. They need you right now."

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded and stood up. "I'm sorry I got you dragged into this."

"Sasuke, I'm your girlfriend. There are a few stories that I still need to tell you one of these days that this situation doesn't even compare to. We can get through this. Just let me know if there's anything I can do." She stood next to him and stroked his cheek. "I'm scheduled to be off tomorrow, but if you'd like to, bring him back to the hospital and we'll get that DNA test out of the way."

"At this point, even if he's not mine, I'll still want to help the Uzumakis with this. You know that right?"

Sakura kissed his cheek and smiled. "I expect nothing less from you, Uchiha. Now get going."

He returned her smile, knowing that he had been captivated by this woman for a reason.

* * *

When Sasuke got to the Uzumaki's home, he was surprised at what he saw.

Yasuo looked as if he had done a 180 from when he had met him at the hospital. He looked groggy and was closing everyone off from him. He was curled up in a ball with a blanket at the end of the couch. His dark eyes watched Sasuke's every move as he walked through the room.

"Sorry we called you so late." Minato apologized as he clapped his hand on Sasuke's shoulder in greeting. "Kushina is just so livid right now and she knew we couldn't handle this kind of thing with out you, with all things considered."

Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"Oi, Teme." Naruto came up next to him and whispered in his ear. "He's brooding like you do, so I can kind of see the resemblance."

Sasuke reached out and punched Naruto in the jaw. "Now's not the time, you dobe!"

Yasuo's eyes widened at the sight of the police officer punching his family member. Weren't policemen supposed to stop fights and not start them?

"Ah don't worry about them, kid. They're like this all the time." Minato chuckled, noticing the change in the boy's expression. "They're like brothers, so it's normal for them."

"Ah." Yasuo nodded.

"See what I mean?" Naruto snickered, earning a glare from the Uchiha.

"I swear, you idiot. One more word and I'll knock you flat on your a-" Sasuke caught himself from finishing his sentence with a curse word.

He flashed his dark eyes to meet with Yasuo's. The boy's eyes were glued to him, and he seemed to hang on to every word the man spoke.

"You know, I've been around worse than ass." The red-headed boy stated.

The three men all stared at the boy, mostly because it had been the most he had said since he gotten there.

"Ah. Right." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Still, it's not right for an adult to speak foul language in front of a kid."

"I don't care." Yasuo rolled his eyes. "Like it makes any fucking difference to me."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and looked at the kid in shock.

"Hey now, we don't speak that kind of language around here." Kushina had appeared in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hmph." Yasuo avoided her glare and grumbled to himself.

Kushina sighed and sat down next to the boy and ruffled his hair. "Now, now, Yasuo. No need to act all cool. We're family, so I'm going to treat you like I treat my boys over there."

Yasuo glanced up at the three men on the other side of the room then looked away again. "Whatever..."

"Our guest room is ready if you'd like to go to sleep now. We still have a lot to go over with you later, so it's probably best you get some good rest."

"Fine." Yasuo nodded and stood up.

Kushina led the boy out of the room. Yasuo never broke his eye contact with Sasuke as they walked past him.

After a few moments of waiting, the four adults had all sat down with some drinks to talk about their action plan on what to do about Yasuo.

"Have you talked to your parents about anything yet?" Minato asked Sasuke after he took a drink of his beer.

"Not yet. I don't want them to get involved if he's not for sure my kid." Sasuke frowned. "There's no point in it. I know how my father is, and I don't want to get my mother's hopes up on having another grandchild."

"So then you'll be pressing forward with a DNA test, then." Kushina sighed. "Have you talked to anyone about getting one done?"

"Sakura said she can have one with the results same day."

"Oh, that's right! That Sakura chick is a doctor." Naruto smirked. "She's our secret weapon against Karin, then! Why haven't you brought her around lately, Teme? Did you say something stupid to make her lose her interest?"

Sasuke flashed a glare at Naruto. "Actually, I've been seeing her for a while now you dobe. She's just been busy with some things is all."

"What does she think about all of this?" Kushina asked, looking worried. She knew that normal girls would run at the thought of baby mama drama.

"She's actually been extremely understanding." Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and gave a slight smile. "It's been a huge help."

"I knew she was a good girl when I met her," Minato smirked.

"Yeah she's a breath of fresh air compared to Karin, that's for sure."

"Aww. Teme's in love." Naruto wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hmph." Sasuke pushed the blonde off of him, his cheeks tinged with a shade of pink.

"In all sincerity, though. Sasuke, do you plan on taking care of Yasuo yourself if he is yours? What if Karin doesn't come back?"

Sasuke sighed. "It's the right thing to do for him. He definitely needs a much more stable home, that's for sure."

"You're still living with your parents, though, aren't you? Are you sure you would be able to afford that?" Minato asked.

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "You know how my parents are. They insist I stay until I plan on getting married."

"Which from the sound of it, I hear wedding bells already!" Naruto exclaimed, being his overly dramatic self. "Teme won't be a bachelor like me for much longer."

"I have been planning on getting my own place in the near future," Sasuke said, putting his hand in front of Naruto's face to shut him up. "So, I would be willing to care for him on my own."

"Oh! So that _does_ mean you're planning on marrying Sakura!" Naruto beamed his cheesy smile.

"Shut up, dobe. It's not like she's said yes. It's just preparing myself better for the long run, that's all."

Minato chuckled. "We're obviously happy for you, son. You can't blame Naruto for acting the way he is."

"Hn." Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and looked away in embarrassment.

"Minato's right. It's a good thing you've found someone." She shot a look at Naruto. "Now if only my idiot son would settle down sometime soon!"

"Ma! I told you, I just don't think I'm ready for that." Naruto rubbed his neck. He started to feel uncomfortable with the attention on him.

"It's not so fun now, is it?" Sasuke smirked.

"Alright, alright." Minato stood up and stretched. "Let's go ahead and call it a night. We still have a lot of stuff to take care of in the morning."

"I'm going to have to close the restaurant tomorrow." Kushina looked down, disappointment evident on her face.

"No, you won't." Sasuke gave her a stern look.

"But Yasuo-"

"Is going to be just fine. I'm going to take care of him," Sasuke insisted. "So don't worry about him. I've already let dispatch know I'm not coming in tomorrow."

Kushina hugged Sasuke tight. "Thank you so much, Sasuke."

"Yeah. It's the least I can do until we get this whole situation figured out."


	8. Chapter 8

"Just Carrying it for a Friend" Chapter 8

Sasuke and Sakura agreed to meet at a cafe near the hospital the next morning after Yasuo woke up. Sakura didn't want to chance any of the Uzumakis seeing her. They didn't know about her pregnancy, and especially with everything that had gone on the last few days, she wasn't going to risk them jumping to any conclusions.

"Why am I not going to school today?" Yasuo asked as Sasuke drove his car to the cafe. "Isn't that why my mom left me with my auntie and uncle?"

"We're going to the hospital to run a little test," Sasuke explained. "You remember the doctor you saw the first time you went there, right?"

"The fat pink lady?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue. It was probably a good thing that Sakura declined his offer for a ride. "She's pregnant, not fat. But yeah, that's who I'm talking about."

"Why am I seeing her? I'm not sick or anything. All of that was a joke before."

"It's just a test to check on something. I'm getting it done too, so it's nothing to get worked up about."

The car fell silent as Yasuo looked down at his lap. He had his brows furrowed, deep in thought.

"It's to see if you're my dad, isn't it?" The young boy asked after a few moments of being silent.

Sasuke glanced at the rear view mirror at the child in the back seat, caught off guard by his question. "How did you know?"

"I heard you guys talking last night."

"Ah." Sasuke nodded. They weren't being quiet the night before, so it made sense that he had heard them.

Silence came again until Sasuke slowed to a stop in the parking lot of the cafe.

"Look, Yasuo... About all of this-"

"If you're my dad, then why didn't you ever come for me?" Yasuo looked up at the raven-haired man. His throat was tight, and his eyes burned. He didn't understand why he was crying.

"You know how my mom is!" Yasuo started yelling. "And it's not fair! All of my classmates have had dads! Why was I not good enough until now?!"

"Yasuo, calm down!" Sasuke snapped at him, causing the boy to sink back into the seat in shock over the man's tone of voice. Sasuke swallowed hard. "I didn't know about you until the other day. Even then, I don't know for sure if I'm your dad. That's why we're getting that test done today."

Yasuo looked away. "So if I'm not your son, I'm not your problem. Is that why you want to get this test done?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Sasuke reached out and put his hand on Yasuo's head. "Yasuo, the reason I'm getting this test done isn't just to know if I'm your father. It's to help you. Do you want to stay with your mother?"

Yasuo looked down. "She's not ever around, so it doesn't matter."

"Then if, and I'm saying _if_ I'm your dad, I can go to court to have custody transferred over to me."

Yasuo's eyes widened. "You mean... I'd live with you?"

"If a judge saw me fit to let me have you, then yes." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck. "But if I'm not, then that's for your auntie and uncle to work out with your mother and your real father."

Sasuke gave Yasuo a final pat on his head before opening his door. "Now, let's go get some food. I think we've had her waiting long enough."

Yasuo raised a brow in confusion. "Her?"

"Ah... Yeah." The Uchiha hesitantly answered, remembering that he didn't tell Yasuo that they were meeting with Sakura. "The doctor you met before is my girlfriend. We're meeting her here."

Yasuo's opened his mouth in shock. "You mean you're having a baby with _her_?!"

Sasuke put his hands up in a defensive manner. "It's not mine. It's for her friends. It's a complicated situation."

"There's a lot of those around you." Yasuo wrinkled his nose. He opened his own door and they exited the car.

When they entered the cafe Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the pinkette who was on the other side of the room, digging into her food. It was as he predicted.

He waited until she was mid-bite to sit in front of her. She looked up at the Uchiha with wide green eyes as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Yasuo I'd like for you to officially meet my girlfriend, Sakura Haruno." He gave her a playful smirk as she did her best to swallow the food she had stuffed in her mouth.

Yasuo laughed in response. The woman was obviously not prepared for a conversation.

"You're cruel," She choked out after she took a drink of water. "You waited for me to do that, didn't you?"

"It's possible." Sasuke chuckled and reached across the table to brush some rice out of her hair. "You just couldn't wait for us to get here, could you?"

Sakura's cheeks pinkened with embarrassment and grumbled. "You try being pregnant and seeing and smelling everything that they're making back there."

"Isn't a doctor supposed to eat things like green peppers and broccoli?" Yasuo questioned as if he was challenging Sakura's knowledge. "My teacher says that things like that can lead to heart disease."

Sakura's brow twitched in response. "Your teacher is a smart woman, however, moderation is okay."

Sasuke watched the two interact with amusement evident on his face. The day was going to prove to be more interesting than he thought it would.

"Excuse me, sir." A waitress had sauntered her way over to the table.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, knowing it was the same one that had come to serve her before. She had taken her hair down and put on light makeup when she noticed Sasuke walk in. It was as if the pinkette was invisible to her.

"May I take your order?"

Sakura wanted to gag. The woman was trying _way_ too hard.

Being a frequent visitor to the cafe, everyone knew her as one of the doctors. Since she had shown up by herself, they assumed that Sasuke was a friend coming by for a chat. Plus, she was pregnant way before this guy came along. There was no way that they would have realized that the doctor and the Uchiha were an item.

"Why are you sticking your chest out like that?" Yasuo peeked from next to Sasuke with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

Sakura covered her mouth to stop a laugh from escaping. That was the ultimate defeat when a child was able to call you out like that.

The waitress paled when she noticed the same look on Sasuke's face. He definitely wasn't interested, and all of the work that she had done was for nothing.

"I'll have whatever my girlfriend is having," Sasuke answered, bringing the woman back to reality.

"G-girlfriend?" Her brown eyes went wide as she looked over to Sakura, who just gave a polite smile and shrugged as if nothing had happened.

"I want pancakes with extra syrup!" Yasuo exclaimed with a grin.

"Aren't you the one that was complaining that I wasn't eating something healthy earlier?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at the kid.

"Yeah, but _I'm_ not a doctor." Yasuo stuck his tongue out at the woman.

"Okay, one plain breakfast platter and pancakes coming right up." The waitress quickly wrote in her book practically ran back to the kitchen.

Sakura continued with her breakfast while the other two waited on theirs to be served.

"So you said that we have to wait at least an hour after we're done here, right?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded in response. "Yeah, we want to make sure that your samples aren't tainted with traces of food."

"Ah." He said in understanding. "So, I was thinking we could go to the park for a little while. What do you think?"

"Yeah! If it's the one that we passed by that has the huge octopus on it, I'm in!" Yasuo beamed.

"I'm okay with it, too." Sakura smiled, her heart warming to actually see that the kid wasn't always a smart ass, and was actually pretty normal.

* * *

Breakfast wasn't too eventful after that. Sasuke paid the bill for all three meals, despite Sakura's protest that she was capable of paying for herself, and they all got into his car and drove to the park near the hospital.

Yasuo took off in a run to the giant octopus in the center as soon as Sasuke put the car in park.

"Be careful, Yasuo!" Sasuke called after the boy as he and Sakura walked in the same direction. They took a leisurely pace, enjoying each other's company.

"Yeah, yeah. I will!" The red-headed child called over his shoulder with a grin.

Sakura giggled. "You know, even if he's not yours, you'll still be a great father one day."

Sasuke raised his brow. "Where did that come from?"

"I just like seeing the way you watch over him is all," She smiled.

The couple took a seat on a nearby bench and watched Yasuo climb to the top of the giant stone sea creature's head.

He waved wildly at them to show off his accomplishment, and they waved back in response.

"Sometimes he reminds me of Naruto," Sasuke said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess that's part of the reason I get along with him so well."

"He sure does have the same energy as Naruto," Sakura laughed. "And his goofy grin."

Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's shoulder and sighed contently.

"Sakura..." Sasuke stroked his thumb over her hand that he held. "What will you do if Yasuo turns out to be my son?"

"I already told you," Sakura snorted as if he had asked her a stupid question. "I'm going to support you no matter what."

Sasuke was silent for a moment as he kept his eyes on Yasuo. He was now swinging upside down from one of the tentacles.

"What if he's not?" Sakura finally asked. "You said that Naruto's parents are kind of reluctant about raising another child. I don't really blame them for not wanting to, but if that Karin woman is as wild as you've made her out to be, he'll need a stable home."

"They'll work to find out who his biological father is if that's the case." Sasuke sighed. "They'll try and bring him into the picture and talk him into taking Yasuo if they think he's a responsible enough guy."

"Ah. I see." Sakura looked down. "Would you be okay with that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. I only just met the kid, and it's not like I'm any good with kids in general. Plus, he's in this in-between stage. He's not this little baby that doesn't know anything, but at the same time he doesn't know anything about the world around him."

"But you still feel that there's something about him." Sakura more stated than asked seeing the way Sasuke watched the boy.

"Exactly." He nodded. "I don't know if it's because I know how Karin is, or if it's because I've read up on cases like his. I just feel sorry for him. It's not his fault he has a shitty mother, and if I can at least take him away from that kind of environment, then maybe he'll be able to break the cycle Karin's mother started."

"The Uzumaki family is your family, Sasuke. I can understand where you're coming from." Sakura lightly squeezed his hand.

Sasuke turned and placed a kiss on her head. "You have the patience of a saint."

Sakura snorted. "Believe me, I don't. You'll see what I mean when we get to the hospital. Everything always goes to shit when I'm gone, and I'm sure today isn't any different."

"What makes you say that?"

"My temporary replacement is in charge today like he has been every day I'm off lately. The board wants him to 'get used to his staff'." The pinkette rolled her eyes. "Let's just say that he and I don't see eye to eye."

"Ah." Sasuke nodded.

"Is that your son over there?" A woman with a stroller asked as she nodded over to Yasuo.

The couple blinked for a moment, not knowing how to answer her question.

"Did he do something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Not at all! I was just going to say that he's really talented." She gave a hearty laugh. "I teach gymnastics, so I was watching how well he was balancing himself."

Sakura let out a breath she was holding, knowing how horrible Yasuo could be. She was glad that it was someone praising his talents instead of scolding the young couple for not keeping a better eye on him.

"I'm sure your little one will be just as acrobatic, don't you think?" The young mother continued on.

Sakura blushed. "I'm actually a surrogate for one of my friends. It's not ours."

"That's so kind of you!" The mother clapped her hands in delight. "Either way, congratulations."

"Thank you." Sakura smiled.

The woman's baby started to fuss, causing her to give a small frown.

"Sorry, I have to cut my conversation short. Being a mom is hard work, you know."

Sasuke and Sakura said their farewells to the woman as she walked away as fast as she had appeared.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little uncomfortable because of the thoughts the woman had brought on.

"Could you imagine?" Sakura shook her head. "If this was our kid, I don't think I could do it."

Sasuke raised his brow in confusion. "Do you not want kids?"

"No, no!" Sakura put her hands up in defense. "That's not what I meant at all... What I mean is, I just don't think I'd be able to do it living on my own and everything."

"I'd never let you live on your own." Sasuke scoffed. "I'd marry you as soon as the test turned positive."

Sakura's blush deepened. "Wh-what?"

The couple had never even had sex yet, but he was saying those things.

"I mean... If you'd want to marry me..." Sasuke looked away, his own blush coloring his cheeks.

Sakura smiled to herself and looked down at her bump. Oh, the conversations this child was causing already.

After a few moments, Sakura let out a yawn, moving Sasuke's attention back to the pinkette.

"Did you sleep any good last night?"

Sakura frowned and let out a huff. "No. Ino and I were up all night arguing over text."

"Oh?"

"Her and Sai want me to move in with them before I have the baby."

Sasuke cocked his head in confusion. "Why?"

"Ino wants me to breastfeed, but there are pumps for that." Sakura rolled her eyes. "She insists that it's because I'll be drained for a few weeks after having it, so it would be best for me to stay with them while I healed and got back to my normal self."

Sasuke felt like an idiot. He hadn't even thought of the fact that there was so much that a woman goes through after labor, even if they didn't keep the baby for themselves. He knew nothing about the medical field, so he knew he wouldn't be able to do much to help her afterward.

"She does have a point." Sasuke shrugged. "She's a nurse, so she'd be a huge help."

"I'm a _doctor_." Sakura rolled her eyes again. "I think I'd know how to fare on my own."

"Sakura, just hear me out." The Uchiha said. "What if you moved in until you felt well enough to be on your own? None of that milk nonsense included because I have no clue how that's going to work. That's all on you guys."

He turned to face her fully. "What if you moved in with me after you healed up?"

Sakura felt her heart jump to her throat.

"W-wait a minute!" She exclaimed. "That's a little fast, don't you think?"

"That's why I'm saying to stay with Ino until you're ready." Sasuke began to feel uncomfortable again. It was probably a stupid idea to even put that on the table, considering he didn't even have his own place yet. His parents had always told their boys they could stay with them until they got married to save up money for an actual home instead of moving around once a lease went up. Itachi did it, so Sasuke thought it wasn't such a bad idea either.

"I have to live near the hospital." Sakura frowned. "My apartment right now is really ideal for me, Sasuke. I can't give it up. It's too hard to rent out from there in the first place."

"I'll find something better." Sasuke gave her a determined look. "And we can work on getting you your own car, I can let you use mine, or I'll even drive you myself. Sakura, we can make something work."

Sakura looked away, feeling uncomfortable. The last time she had done this... Her life fell apart.

"Just... Give me some time to think about it." She finally said.

"It's all I ask."

"Hey, Sasuke! Look at me!" Yasuo's shouting broke them from their serious conversation.

The boy was balancing himself at the top of the octopus's head with one foot. It was almost ninja-like.

"Yasuo, that's really dangerous!" Sasuke replied to him.

"Aww, no it's not!" The boy laughed. "Watch!"

It was as if life slowed down when the boy went to do a spin to land on his other foot but caught nothing but air as his body landed arm-first on the ground and let out a blood-curdling scream.

* * *

 **So yeah, that's a chapter.**

 **I actually had like 3/4s of one written, but after the cafe scene my computer did a goof and deleted everything I wrote after that. I actually like this one better, so I'm not complaining.**

 **Anyway! Anyone that's been following me knows that I do not really do much of these author's notes. I've been getting a lot of flack and threats from people if I make Yasuo Sasuke's child. To be honest, does it really matter at this point? Yasuo is actually just a small part of a much bigger story I have planned. If you want to stop reading because of something I do, that's your choice. I'm not going to write a story that sways depending on reader's desires. If you want something to happen your way, write your own fic. (However, I am open to _ideas_.)**

 **I write because I love to, and when my ideas flow I roll with them. I've already had this story in my head over the last few weeks, so it's not fair when someone tries to dictate my plot.**

 **In all honesty, thank you for the reviews. I don't beg for them, but they are SO VERY MUCH appreciated!**

 **Thank you all for your love and support!**

 **~RynUhara**


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